Opt-out rate decreases at Riverhead school district; up at SWR, charter school

Tuesday marked the first day of the controversial state-mandated testing at public schools across New York and the percentage of students who refused to sit for the exams in the Riverhead school district slightly decreased compared to last year’s total opt-out numbers.

District officials said Wednesday 800 out of 2,390 students — or 33 percent — declined to take the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment on Tuesday.

Last year, a total of 805 out of 2,050 students — or 39 percent — refused to take the ELA exam.

The smallest opt-out percentage Tuesday was Phillips Avenue Elementary School’s third-grade class, with six out of 126 students, or 5 percent, declining to take the assessment Tuesday.

The highest percentage of students refusing to take Tuesday’s ELA test was in the Riverhead Middle School’s eighth-grade class, with nearly 51 percent of students opting out. [Scroll down for more statistics]

At the Riverhead Charter School, 89 out of 224 students opted out of Tuesday’s ELA exam. Last year, 31 out of 220 students declined to sit for the exam.

“We’re disappointed by the amount of students that are opting out of state testing this year, however we respect the decision of our parents and guardians,” charter school executive director and principal Raymond Ankrum said. “This year, unlike many of the previous years, parents are checking in with their children more to determine their comfort level on taking these high stakes assessments. Many of our students are experiencing anxiety and/or nervousness. These feelings are occurring even after several simulated tests. As a school we will support the state test and continue to use a variety of assessments that will capture the true essence of how our students are performing.”

The Shoreham-Wading River school district had 76.2 percent of its students opt out of Tuesday’s exam and ranked as the third-highest opt-out rate among Long Island schools, according to Newsday. Last year, the district had 74 percent opt-out for ELA.

ELA testing continues through Thursday. Math assessments are scheduled for May 2-4.

RIVERHEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT

Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Christine Tona provided the News-Review with the following stats from Tuesday:

School

Grade

Number of Students Eligible to Take ELA

Number of Student Opt-Outs Day 1

% of Opt-Outs Day 1 ELA

Aquebogue

3

88

18

20%

Aquebogue

4

99

39

39%

Phillips

3

126

6

5%

Phillips

4

122

20

16%

Riley

3

112

37

33%

Riley

4

125

49

39%

Roanoke

3

71

1

1%

Roanoke

4

65

11

17%

Pulaski

5

398

129

32%

Pulaski

6

413

147

36%

RMS

7

395

153

39%

RMS

8

376

190

51%

District Total

2390

800

33%

RIVERHEAD CHARTER SCHOOL

Raymond Ankrum, executive director and principal at Riverhead Charter School, provided the News-Review with the following stats from Tuesday:

3rd- 15/44 opting out (34%)

4th- 10 /45 opting out (22%)

5th- 26/44 opting out (59%)

6th- 18/46 opting out (39%)

7th- 13/21 opting out (62%)

8th- 7/ 24 opting out (29%)

SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT

Assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment Alan Meinster provided the News-Review with the following stats from Tuesday: